And I’m looking forward to visiting the pop-up shop from Wear Lemonade in Paris, where I will be for a few days at the end of the month. One of the perks of being back on France, two hours on a train and I’m in Paris.Et j’ai hâte de pouvoir faire un tour à la boutique pop-up de Wear Lemonade à Paris, où je vais passer quelques jours à la fin du mois. Un des avantages d’être rentrée en France, deux heures de train et je suis à Paris.

This is officially the end of autumn, or fall here in Canada. We have had an exceptionally mild season, with few days below zero and no snow so far. A drastic change from last year, where it was already freezing cold at this time of the year. Many are wishing for snow but the whole week will be mild and rainy. I will not complain, I love snow but hate shovelling. There is still plenty of time for that. So let’s pause a second and look back at the past season accomplishements, knitting-wise.C’est officiellement la fin de l’automne ici au Canada. Nous avons une saison exceptionnellement douce, avec très peu de journées au-dessous de zéro et pas encore de neige. Un changement radical par rapport à l’année passée, où à cette époque nous étions déjà en plein climat polaire. Beaucoup souhaitent de la neige cette semaine mais on nous annonce une semaine de douceur et de pluie. Je ne vais pas m’en plaindre, j’aime beaucoup la neige mais moins la pelleter. On a encore pas mal de temps pour cela. Alors arrêtons-nous un peu pour faire la revue des projets terminés cette saison.

Outline – Beata Jezek

Sandra, from La Maison Tricotee, helped me in my color selection. I had this wild flashy pink from Riverside Studio in my stash, and wanted some brown to match. She recommended this lovely creamy Teacup from Hedgehog Fibers as the light neutral to offset the two darker colors. The subtle color hints in each seem to call the other colors and the blend works well. I also used a small amount of a more luminous pink that was left over from a previous project. At some point in my knitting I stopped, gazed at the stripes and thought: this looks so much like a dessert. So I called it my Napolitan Outline.

Bonus: this pattern is very easy to customize. Add repeats and you will get a bigger, enveloping wrap, or remove some to get a lithe scarf. I can see other Outlines in my knitting future, with totally different color schemes. The pattern calls for 7 different shades but I used only 4 on the smaller stripes section, and 3 for the final larger stripes. It is a great pattern for all those bits of sock yarn left from other projects.Le plus: ce patron est très facile à adapter. On ajoute des répétitions et on obtient un grand châle enveloppant, ou bien on en enlève pour faire une jolie écharpe fine. Je vois bien d’autres Outline dans mon futur tricotesque, avec des couleurs totalement différentes. Le patron suggère d’utiliser 7 coloris, mais j’en ai utilisé 4 pour la première section, et 3 pour la fin lorsque les rayures deviennent plus larges. C’est un bon moyen d’utiliser des fins de pelotes de laine chaussette.

Seathwaite – Kate Gagnon Osborn

Yarn/laine: Cascade Eco Duo

The fourth Fringe Hatalong was launched in November, and I did hesitate at first. The pattern is lovely, but I was wondering about the size. With a 16″ circumference, unstretched, that seemed just too tight for my 23′ head. So I used a heavier yarn, aran instead of worsted, and went up a size for both recommended needles. The result: it fits perfectly, roomy and so, so soft. This yarn is so incredibly soft, I had just forgotten how decadent alpaca feels when you knit with it. As soon as the temps drop below zero, this will be my go to hat. Its double brim keeps the ears really warm. And you will feel some cool styling ideas on Kate’s blog here.

Texting Mittens & Boot toppers/Mitaines tactiles et mini-jambières

Yarn/laine: Silver Spun Sport by Feel Good Yarn Company

This was my bonus Knitcrate gift received earlier this year. As soon as temperatures started to drop, I knit this pair of mittens. They went surprinsingly fast for a sport weight yarn. This yarn is blended with silver, which makes it tactile and also quite warm. And it is also elastic and very comfortable to work with. My kids call these mittens my alien gloves, and claim to be embarrassed whenever I wear them, which is quite often. My husband often jokes that I come from another planet, and the day aliens finally land, they will come straight for me. It makes me laugh a lot.

With the rest of the yarn I made a pair of short boot toppers, but I ran out of yarn before the end. A small remnant of Cascade Fixation was perfect to finish it: this cotton blend is very elastic and really close in terms of weight. So this red striped is not a planned design statement. Now if I could only remember to wear my boot toppers on cold days. A friend suggested I keep them in my bag just in case, and I think it’s a great idea.

Mistake Stitch Moebius – Daniel Yuhas

Yarn/laine: Adriafil Monello

This is another free pattern from the first issue of knit.wear, knit very quickly as part of a Moebius KAL. I used all the skeins of Adriafil I brought back from France.This blend is surprisingly soft despite its high level of acrylic, and while I’m not a variegated fan, I love this blend of muted colors. It is a great big cowl and keep my neck really warm. The stitch pattern is the same on both sides and you turn the work before grafting to create the moebius effect.

The knitting these days is as confusing as the weather. Seriously these last two weeks in Montreal have been insane. Hot, then brutally cold, then mild and humid, then cool and rainy, then cold again, and now we’re supposed to have a summer spell in the next few days, up to 30° Celsius. It was 4° Celsius last Friday morning, and half of the family has a cold. I took the mittens out and now realize I probably started storing my summer sandals too quickly.

So on the knitting side, it’s been the same confusion. i just finished a summer top, which I packed thinking I would not wear it until next year; it turns out I actually might be able to wear it this week-end. I also finished a Vogue Knitting sweater from the Pre-Fall 2013 edition, a no-sleeve tunic with a big rounded collar, the kind of schizophrenic sweater that leaves your arms freezing cold and your neck boiling hot. And I started a neck warmer in bulky warm wool because hey, it’s been pretty cold walking around in the autumn wind. It’s all over the place.
Summer, autumn, winter, up and down, up and down the thermometer goes and I still have a cotton lacy sweater to finish, with sleeves. Which is probably the best transition piece, except there are no transitions here. It’s a bit crazy, but hey, at least it’s not snowing yet, so I cannot complain too much (and my heart goes to the folks in Calgary who had their first snow on September 8 – ouch). Just upping my vitamins intake to make sure I don’t get too sick on this crazy meteorological roundabout. I still have time to get started on my winter knitting.

Pictures in a following post. Just a preview of my neck warmer and the warm colors of the yarn (Mountain Fusion Teton, Summer colorway).

Crocheted Poufs – Hooked & EchtStudio. Because I still hope that one day I will be able to crochet well enough to do one just like these.Poufs en crochet: parce que je vis dans l’espoir (ou l’illusion) qu’un jour je serai capable de crocheter quelque chose comme ca